Strapping apparatus



Aug. 3,1926. l,594,540

C; M. M CHESNEY STRAPPI NG APPARATUS Filed August 8. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheetl lli 25 Mn Aug. 3 9 1926. l,594,540

-C. M. M CHESNEY STRAPPING APPARATUS Filed August 8, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Patented Aug. 3, 19 26.

UNITED STTES PATENT OFFICE.

CHESTER M. MACCHESNEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO .ACME STEELCOM- PANY, OF CEICAGQ, ILLINOIS, A. COBPOEATION OF ILLINOIS.

STBAPPING APPARATUS.

o Application filed Augusts. 1921. .Serial No. 490,478.

The resent invention has been primarily directe toward obviating certaindiificulties encountered in the bundling of wall paper. Wall paper isordinarily put up in bundles of generally cylindrical form and theprocess consists in laying a predetermined number of rolls of paper inthe trough of a buck, with or 'without a sheet or strips of wrappingmaterial, and tying up the bundle with String or cord generally at twoplaces a short distance from the ends of the bundle. Ordinarily thepaper is still hot when put up in these bundles and the resultoftentimes is that shrinkage coupled with stretchiness of the String orcord causes'the bundle to loosen up and fall apart. My invention relatesto the use of steel strapping instead of String or cord, i. e., suchstrapping as is extensively used upon boxes, bales, and various kinds ofpackages and which has all the stretch taken out of it when put in use.I have found that this steel strapping can be applied under veryconsiderable tension to a bundle of Wall paper rolls without anyinjurious efl'ect whatever while at the sama time the bundle willcontinue to be held tight notwithstanding it may shrink considerably. InCarrying out my invention I provide for simultaneously Stretching twolen ths of the Strapping applied at two di erent places around thebundle at short distances from its ends, employing mechanical appliancesfor this purpose. It is quite necessary to have the strapping underconsiderable tension around the bundle and it would be impracticable tofirst apply strapping near one end of the bundle and then apply it nearthe other end, for the result would be that in the first application ofthe strapping there would be aspreading and bulging at the unconfinedend, and then if strapping was afterwards applied at that end asymmetrical bundle could not be formed, besides which the considerablyexpanded end of the bundle would be awkward to strap and thesmoothnessof the rolls of Wall paper would be disturbed in thecompacting of the ,bundle and it would be difiicult if not impossible tokeep the outside wra'pping at all smooth.

I have devised a special form of huck for retaining the Wall paper rollsto make up a bundle and my complete strapping apparatus as hereillustrated and presently to be de scribed in detail embraces reels fromwhich strapping can be drawn to'be laid around the bundle in the buck attwo places near .its

ends, and a stand between which and the n reels the buck will belocated, said'stand Carrying a pair of strap-stretching tools so mountedas to provide for their being simul- 'taneously lowered upon the bundleand simultaneously operated to stretch the two.

lengths of strapping.

In the a drawings which accompany and form part of this SpecificationFig. '1 shows the Complete apparatus in side elevationready to beoperated; Fig. 2 is a similar illustration showing the condition duringthe Operation of .Stretching the strapping around the bundle; Fig. .3 isa top plan view of the apparatus; Fig. 4: is a top plan view of theStretching 'tools and their mounting; and Fig. 5 is a detail sectionalView taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring first td'the buck, this is composed of a simple framework OnSwivel casters, the uprghts of which are designated 2, and in its upperpart it has a trough made out of sheet metal 3. This sheet of metal isflanged and securely nailed to the top of the frame ,at one side asindicated at 4. It is sufliciently free otherwise to provide forexpansion and contraction of the trough to regulate the size of thebundle. This sheet of metal is curved in generally cylindrical form andis free from attachment to the frame as it extends down into the sameand around and up to the back part thereof, so

that it may expand or Contract to suit varying sizes of bundles. Slottedbrackets 5 on the back upper 'part of the sheet 'metal trough andextendlng alongside the rear uprights of the buck frame provide forfixing the trough at diflerent adjustments as to size ofthe bundle, thesaid slotted brackets receiving screw studs which project from saiduprights and have clamping nuts 6 applied to them.

Beferrng next to the strap Stretching part of the apparatus, an uprightstand 7 is secured to the floor where the portable bucl: Canconveniently be rolled into position immediately behind it, the heightof this stand being approximately that of the buck. Between the uprightsof this fixed stand at the top there extends a pivot rod 8 and on thisrod are journaled two blocks 9 spaced apart and rigidly connected by abar 10. There is mounted upon each block a Stretching tool the base 11thereof resting squarely upon the top of the block and having tappedinto it a bolt 11' Which extends through the block from the underside asclearly illustrated in F ig. 5. The Stretching tool here shown is ofsubstantialiy the same construction as that disclosed in the applicationfiled July 14, 1920, Serial N O. 396309 by myself jointly with Ralph H.Norton, said tool having been specially designed for use upon roundpackages. The base 11 of the tool has a rack cut in its upper side and aslide 12 embraces the base bar and carries a gear Wheel 13 in mesh withthe rack and adapted to be ratcheted in one direction by a pawl carriedin an Operating hand lever 14. The slide has a gripping couple 15 at oneside and in' line with a similar couple 16 carried b a laterallyprojecting portion of the base bar at the outer end thereof. The basebar of each of the tools at the opposite ends is extended somewhatbeyond the blocks 9 and the two extended portions of the base bars areconnected together by a' cross-bar 17. This cross-bar is' pivotallyconnected with the tool base bars so as to provide for lateral Shift ofthe latter as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, and the purpose ofwhich will be presently ointed out. A handle 18 on the cross-bar 1provides a ready means for swingin'g the two tools up and down and forlaterally shifting them. A spring 19 connects the said cross-bar with alower portion of the stand 7 and serves as a counterbalancing means forkeeping the tools elevated when the are not' in use. Another sprin 20exten s horizontallv between said crossar and a portion of the stand forthe purpose of normally holding the tools and the block structure 9-10Over against one side of the stand, it being understood that the blocks9 are slidable on the pivot rod 8, said spring also serving to normallyhold the tools at right angles to the block structure. A bracket 21secured to the cross-bar 10 of the block structure limits the swivelmovement of the tools in the direction in which the said spring 20 pullsand also limits their movement in the opposite direction.

In rear of the stand 7 with space between to accommodate the buck, thereis another stand 22 which carries a pair of strapping reels 23 spacedapart the same distance that the strapping is to be spaced On thebundle.

In operation the buck is rolled in between the stands 7 and 22 andbrought to position just in rear of the stand 7 and with those portionsof the bundlewhere the strapping is to be applied in:line with the saidreels. A piece of wrapping paper will have been laid smoothly in thetrough of the buck and the proper number of rolls 'of Wall paper to makeup a bundle will have been laid in over the wra ping paper in orderlyfashion and then wit the buck in its proper position ust in rear of thestand 7 the operator will lay down the Wrapping paper over the top ofthe bundle, draw a supply of strapping 24 from one of the reels and takeit under the bundle where it projects beyond the trough at one side,thread a sealing sleeve Over the strapping and bend the end of. thelatter and hook it over the under member of the gripping couple 16 ofone of the tools. Then the strapping will be laid over the bundle fromthe rear and slipped between the members of said gripping coupleoverlying the hooked end of the strapping and also sllpped between themembers of the other gripping couple 15. The strapping will be pulled upto take out slack and then the gripping couple 15 will be closed tightlyupon it. The same procedure will be gone through with at the other endof the bundle, both tools having previously been lowered upon the bundleas illustrated in Fig. 2. Thereupon the operator will work both toolhandles 144 to simultaneously stretch the strapping aroundthe bundle.When this has been done to the requisite extent the grippmg couples 16will be tightened upon the strapping and the latter will be'released nfrom the grip ingcou les 15 and cut bil. The sealing seeves W ich werethreaded upon the strapping at the be inning will then be slipped overthe cut 0 ends of the strapping and a sealing tool will then be appliedfo r interlockin the overlapped ends. of the strapping and lnterlockingthem with the sealing sleeves. Reference may be had to the Norton andFork Patent No. 1,322,723 with respect to such interlocking by theappllcation of the tool in question.

Each of the bases of the Stretching tool, besides having the lateralextension or arm at its outer end Carrying the gripping couple 16, has asimilarly'extending projection or arm 25 sufliciently spaced away fromthe said grlppmg couple to provide for the introduction of the sealingtool. The. space between the said arm 25 and the said grippmg couple isclosed over its bottom by a plate 26 on which the said sealing tool mayrest while it operates upon the overlapping portlons of the strappingextending across the space and embraced by the seal.

When the Operations just reviousl described have been performed slouldere portions of the lateral arms 25 of the stretcher tools will beunder the stretched strapping between it and the bundle, and likewiseshouldered portions of the lower members of the gripping couples 16 willbe under the strapping. Now the mounting of the two stretcher tools upona slide (9-10) to which they are swiveled is for the urpose of providinga ready means of disengaging the tools from the strapping with dispatch.TO accomplish this the. operator takes hold of the handle 18 and givesit a quick', short .varying the positionin throw leftward. the couples16 hat ing meantime been released. The engagement of the shonlderedlower members of said Couples with the side edges of the ping willproduce a fnlcruming effect, the blocks 9 sliding along the rod 8 whilethe tools turn upon their Swivel connections with said blocks and thejointed Connection hetween the rear ends of the toos accommodatingitself to the movement. The resnlt of this is to take the arms 25 fromunder the strapping which will immediately snap down across the ends ofthese arms. Thereupon there is a reverse action (etfected either by theoperator throwing the handle 18 back to the right OI' by his simplypermit ting the spring 20 to do the work) and now' the fulcrnming ettectis had between the side edges of the strapping and the ends of the saidarms 25 with the result that the lower members of the grpping couples 16are taken from under the strapping. This rees the tools entirely fromthestrapping and the operator, pressing down upon the handle 18 or uponthe bar 17, throws the tools up and the buck containing the strappedbundle s rolled away and another 'put in its place.

In order to insure correct positioning of the buck fore-find-aft betweenthe reel stand 22 and the tool stand 7 so as to secure the most advantaeous relationship between the tools and the undle, employ a gange forthe buck to abnt. This gange is in the form of a yoke whose cross-bar 27presents the abutment for the buck and whose side arms are slotted and'extend along the uprights 7 of the tool stand receiving clamping bolts.

The latter are designated by the numeral 28 and have nuts applied tothem, and the purpose of this adjustment is to provide for of the buckto suit different sizes of bun les. If the bundles vary to anyconsiderable extent in diameter some Change in the fOre-and-aft positionof the buck will be desirable in order that the tools may take p the'most advantageous position on the bundle when the strapping Operationsare to be performed. It is desirable in the interest of ensuringtightness of the strapping that the end portions of the tools do notproject past their ponts of contact With the bundle so as to overhangand therefore require the strapping to extend away from the bundle anappreciahle amount in passing to the gripping couples 16. Therefore, incase of strapping a bundle of much smaller diameter than the oneillustrated, the gange 27 would be set further out from the stand 7. Onthe Other hand, if the buck was designed to hold a much larger hundlethan the one shown, the gange would ue set further in, since it islikewise desirable to avoid having those portions of the tools where thearms 25 are located project away from the bundle.

I claim 1. Strapping apparatus comprsing a plurality of Stretchingtools, and a laterallyshiftable mounting therefor On Which the tools areswiveled, said mounting being pivoted to provide for Vertical swing ofthe tools.

2. Strapping apparatus comprising a stand, a pivot red in the upper partof the same, a slide pivotally mounted thercon, and a plurality ofStretching tools tied together through pivoted connections and swveledon said slide.

3. A handling bnck comprising a rame and a flexible trough withprovisions for expanding or contracting the same for different sizedbundles.

1 t. A bundling buck comprising a rameg a flexible trough fixed at oneside to the frame, and adjustable clamping means at.

the other side between the trough and the frarne to provide fordifierent sized bundles.

5. A bundling buck comprising a frama,- a flexible trough. fixed at oneside to the frame, and slotted brackets and screw" clamps at theopposite side between 'the v frame and the trough to provide fordifier-' 1 ent sized bundles.

'CHESTER' M; MACCHE NEY;

